Boot Camp
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day six hundred and ten: Before she can consider even auditioning for Glee Club. Lucy wants Artie to coach her.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 29th cycle. Now cycle 30!_

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><p><strong>Hear that little bird twitter!<strong> _Been thinking about doing this for a couple days, then this morning decided to just go for it. If you go there, find 'gleekathon' and there I'll be. There's also a video explaining everything... Yep... ;) Check it out!_

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><p><strong>"Boot Camp"<br>Artie/Lucy (OC)  
>Sequel to "Two Guitars &amp; a Song" and "The Girl Behind the Guitar" <strong>

He didn't know if he'd gotten his hopes up too quick, after Lucy had told him she was up for giving Glee Club a try. Days would go by, and she'd still say 'not yet.' He could tell there was a reason, but whatever it was, she wasn't telling it. So when he couldn't wait anymore, he went to her, hoping to get some answers. "Did you change your mind about joining?" he asked her, careful.

"What? Oh, no, no, I'm still in, I just…" she drifted off, looking around.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me, you know, I…"

"Can you help me to… practice?" she asked, like a nervous kid with a teacher. He sat up, relieved.

"Why didn't you just ask?'" he approached. "Help with what? Singing? Or dancing? Or…"

"Kind of all of it," she nodded, thinking about it, giving a sheepish look. "The singing…"

"Your singing is great," he insisted, and she looked back at him. She didn't believe him; he could understand. "You've never done it without your guitar, have you? How often have you…"

"I told you, I'm not a singer," she reminded him. "I mean, sometimes, in the shower… One time when I got drunk…" the memory made her drift, but she snapped out of it, seeing the look on Artie's face. "Shut up," she 'kicked' his wheel, defensively.

"But you've done it before, I can tell," he nodded. She paused.

"I sang for my sister. When she was in the hospital, after her accident," she recalled in a soft voice. "I wasn't really paying attention to what I was doing, just her…"

"Got it," he refocused. "Okay, well… You've been in the room before while we did vocal practice, right?"

"Yeah," she laughed, "You guys sounded silly, making those noises a…" She stopped. "Oh, you want me to… do… that," she gestured, and he nodded. "Right," she spoke under her breath. He moved to the piano, pushing the bench out of the way so he could take the place. He'd seen Brad do this, Rachel, too. He gave the note, and it took a moment for Lucy to remember she was supposed to give it a go. She moved up to the piano, leaning on it.

"Sorry, go again," she cleared her throat, focusing… She really did want to join the club, and if she was going to do that, then she had to get over herself and do as he said. So he played the note again, and she responded, looking at him with expectation.

"Still breathing?" he asked. She waited. "You're doing great," he promised, and he could see her relax just a bit. "That was one, let's keep going," he looked back to the keys. They went on like this for a while, with Artie giving her a note, and her responding. He didn't exactly call himself a voice coach, but he did what he could. He could at least be glad that, really, Lucy didn't need help. She could sing, really well. He knew this; now he just needed her to realize it. Eventually he'd asked if she felt confident to move on.

"Yeah, okay…" she nodded to herself, bracing.

"Really need to stop holding your breath, you're going to need it," he told her, moving to get his guitar. With his back turned, he heard a small release of breath.

"I'm not…" she told him, and he didn't question it. She moved for her own guitar, but he blocked her path. "What are you…"

"You can't always have it, you know that. The sooner you get used to not having it, the easier it will be not to hide behind it." She looked at him, almost hating that he'd figured her out. But she withdrew her hand, accepting the challenge. "Alright," he moved back, letting her come center stage. She still looked around, like she was making sure no one would be around to see… or hear. "You did it before," he reminded her. She looked back at him.

"With you… and George," she looked back.

"I still don't know what to think about your guitar having a guy's name," he plucked at the strings of his own.

"Like you're going to tell me yours doesn't have a girl's name?" she baited, and he stayed quiet. "It's my uncle's name. The guitar belonged to him, but he knew how much I loved it, and he gave it to me for my birthday one year," she explained.

"Got it," he nodded like an apology. He started playing, randomly at first until she suggested a song, and his fingers focused on the melody. It took a couple of times, of him running through the song up to the part where she was meant to start singing, for her to actually do it. Every time they would get to the point, and she wouldn't start, he could see her biting at her lip, or clenching her fists, or tapping her foot, like 'damn it, get it together.' On the fifth shot, as he was nearing the cue, he nodded for her to approach him. He would have approached her, but playing and handling her guitar at the same time wasn't something he could do. As she moved toward him, he went on nodding. "You can do it," he mouthed the words, and she smiled. They reached the cue, and she started.

_[L] "And I wanna believe you, / When you tell me that it'll be ok, / Yeah I try to believe you, / But I don't_

_When you say that it's gonna be, / It always turns out to be a different way, / I try to believe you, / Not today, today, today, today, today..._

_I don't know how I'll feel, / Tomorrow, tomorrow, / Tomorrow, tomorrow, / I don't know what to say, / Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow / Is a different day / Tomorrow_

_It's always been up to you, / It's turning around, / It's up to me, / I'm gonna do what I have to do, / Just don't_

_Gimme a little time, / Leave me alone a little while, / Maybe it's not too late, / Not today, today, today, today, today..._

_I don't know how I'll feel, / Tomorrow, tomorrow, / Tomorrow, tomorrow, / I don't know what to say, / Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow / Is a different day_

_Hey yeah yeah, hey yeah yeah, and I know I'm not ready, / Hey yeah yeah, hey yeah yeah, maybe tomorrow_

_Hey yeah yeah, hey yeah yeah, I'm not ready, / Hey yeah yeah, hey yeah yeah, maybe tomorrow_

_And I wanna believe you, / When you tell me that it'll be ok, / Yeah I try to believe you, / Not today, today, today, today, today..._

_Tomorrow it may change / Tomorrow it may change / Tomorrow it may change / Tomorrow it may change"_

He watched her the whole time as she sang. As far as performance quality, he could tell she was still a bit nervous, but like the first time, the two of them singing together, as soon as she started and got into it, not thinking about her nerves anymore, she would level off, and she'd be fine. He wasn't sure then if she could even hear herself… but when she finished, he saw something like a smile, capturing her face… and she wasn't holding her breath anymore. Maybe he should have let her stay in that feeling a little longer, but they did need to move along.

"Ready to try dancing?" he asked her. She looked back at him, disbelieving. "I know I'm probably not your ideal teacher," he looked down at his stilled legs. "But I've got skills," he spoke confidently. "If only in dreams…" he carried off.

"That makes one of us," Lucy spoke to herself.

"You know, one of these days you'll figure out how great I know you are," he told her as he moved to put the guitar aside, make sure the space was clear for her. The good thing about her having been in the band, standing by, even if It wasn't for too long, only since she'd arrived at McKinley, was that she had been present to see the various sessions where they all learned some choreography or another.

"Should I stretch first?" she asked, back in her tentative voice. He hoped he hadn't actually gulped, like he thought he just did.

"Might be best," he told her.

He wasn't going to stare. No, they were friends, and she trusted him in that capacity, and as a mentor, and… he wasn't going to stare. Not that he didn't want to. Never mind the fact that Lucy Collins was about as stunning as girls came at McKinley High, that she had this laugh and this smile like it was powered by pure sunlight, that she was just his kind of kook, smart as hell… But after two strikeouts, with Tina and then Brittany, he didn't want Lucy to be a third strike, didn't want to do anything to risk pushing her away.

"Right, ready as I'll ever be," her voice, sighing, drew him back… He hadn't stared.

"Okay," he moved around, trying to decide. He didn't want to give her anything too complicated, knowing that she wasn't too comfortable with it, didn't know too much… and he'd never even seen her, so… He moved to the radio, looked in the CD tray to see what was in it. It was the one from last week's practice; yes, this would do. He hit play and he looked back at her. "Remember this one?" he asked.

"Sure, yeah," she nodded, moving up, swinging her arms back and forth like she was stretching some more. He could see in her eyes how she was trying to recall the steps from the back of her mind. In this case, she hadn't just been watching as a band member. She had been watching as someone aiming to join them, soon, once she could work up the courage. For that, she was able to raise the memories for herself. He watched as she started moving her limbs, slowly, like she was just placing the steps before she could try it at full speed. She was determined, without a doubt, the kind of person who, once she'd made up her mind about something, even if it took a while, would follow through with everything she could. He loved that about her, too.

"You know," he spoke, interrupting her despite himself. "When I first suggested you join us, you know what you said about your dancing?" She bowed her head; she'd suggested even Finn could dance circles around her. "You really don't give yourself enough credit."

"Was I okay?" she asked, surprised.

"Well, it still needs work," he conceded. "But I don't think Finn has to worry about losing his 'last place' standing on our roster," he told her, wheeling off to turn up the volume.

She wasn't going to stare.

THE END

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><p><strong>AN: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
><strong>**In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
><strong>******always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!******


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